ReMix: Cave Story 'Escape Route'
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- Game: Cave Story (Studio Pixel, 2004, WIN)
- ReMixer(s): Corran
- Composer(s): Daisuke Amaya
- Song(s): 'Gestation'
- Posted: 2006-10-04, evaluated by the judges
As you may have already seen from our homepage announcement, we'll have an official presence + meetup for the first time at this year's MAGFest, a gaming and game music festival that occurs, this year at least, about fifteen minutes from where I live, in Vienna, Virginia (USA), from January 4th to January 7th - check out www.magfest.org/ for more info; it's an OCR meetup, festival, and game music concert all roled into one. Very cool.
Moving on, our latest submission is from Corran, aka Bryan Garris, who's sent in mixes previously but finally gets past those troublesome judges with this ReMix from a little game called Cave Story. For those of you unfamiliar with this game, it's a homebrew Japanese platformer for Windows that took five years to make and was created entirely by one guy, including the music. Sugoi desu, ne? If your Nihongo is a little rusty you might wanna try the English patch that's been released, so you can understand what's going on, which is sometimes helpful. This game has an avid Internet fanbase, so it's perhaps not entirely surprising that k-wix was able to build up critical mass and create the Cave Story Remix Project, completed 6/24/2006, that this ReMix from Corran is part of. Check out the project site for more excellent music and project artwork.
This piece is an interesting combination of slower, brooding rock and more energetic, rhythm-guitar driven, Jethro Tull flute soloing rock. There's an interesting drum solo about halfway through that's rather fun, and also exposes the heavy gating effect being applied to the drums, which we don't hear all that often (see Paul Simon's Graceland for tons of examples of gated drums). Guitar and synth get melodic dominance, but there's also synth textures and, sometimes but not all the time, an electric bass. zyko sez:
"this track is very nice. it does start off very conservatively and then migrates out. very good idea, too - given the source material, i don't think it would have been easy to swallow, otherwise. the transitions are smooth and do a good job to never give the impression that he was starting to go on a tangent... slick in bringin the original melody back, too. the flute work is beautiful. then again, this is corran and i expect that. the instrumentation is great, the reverse cymbals do their trick. the upbeat section is awesome."
JJT and Vig both pointed out, and I concur, that when the bass is absent, things can sound a little thin... but that also achieves a sort of floating, meandering feeling which isn't altogether misplaced, either. Good stuff from Corran - fourth time was the charm - which represents OCR's first ReMix of a homebrew game. Check it out, then check out MAGFest, followed be the Cave Story Remix Project. That should keep you busy for awhile.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the But that's not what got me interested to jump in here - is it me or was I the only one that noted a hint of Corran's passion for all things Star Ocean in there? Specifically, I detected the melody line for the series theme "Star Ocean Forever" creep in at 6:11. I found it odd that no one else sensed it within its 2-year existance :P
- Rexy on November 28, 2008
- OA on October 2, 2008
It perfectly channels Cave Story (the intro makes the hair on my arms stand!), but the whole flute-rocking vibe is completely original, fantastic playing! Like someone said before, for all the length the piece has, it never gets boring. I love it when the bass drops out for extended periods of time - like djp said, it adds a floating quality to the track. And when it kicks back in, whoa!
--Eino
- evktalo on April 21, 2008
- viewtyjoe on January 1, 2007
I liked this from the very first listen I gave it. And this is rather rare.
- Martin Penwald on October 29, 2006
And to all the Cave Story fans out there, if you havent checked out the project yet please do so :) lots of other slick remixes to be heard :)
- k-wix on October 12, 2006
The flute/rock session point was interesting, didn't really feel as in tune with the rest of the song, but I very much enjoyed how I can listen to this remix and very much imagine a little 2D guy running around in a cave, exploring the darkness, quickly and urgently searching for an exit as the remix increases in intensity. 8/10 song, definitely one I'd listen to when I'm in a good mood.
- Fiendofthenorth on October 12, 2006
The flute at :46 is very upbeat, like Pink said "It's a rather enjoyable piece that just seems to keep bouncing along all the way through.".
Call me a sucker for breaks like the one at 1:02. From then on the melody just flows into the flute/synth solo at 1:48, and a very well placed solo at that.
I like the feel in the second part of the solo, around 2:09, it feels like your floating.
3:00 another break, followed by the beat.
3:28 the synth comes builds back in. with the flute breaking in at 3:52, and stays in the song at 4:09.
4:32 interesting flute/rock session, I've never heard a flute and a rock band before :wink: .
5:35 the main part of the song returns for one more time.
The ending with the flute bringing the song out fits perfectly.
All in all, this is a great song that everyone should download IMO.
- The Unsung Plumber on October 10, 2006
- wormguy on October 9, 2006
I'd be happy if there were remixes of the more exciting tracks near the end too.. 2nd version of the Egg Corridor :) .. and Final Cave :D
- JustinShaltout on October 9, 2006
That's complimentary, in case you were wondering.
That didn't say much, so I shall try and describe my feelings aroused by listening to the remix. I haven't played Cave Story, so the experience was completely new and full of surprises to me. The very beginning set the mood to what could be called "nastiness is about". I was a tad worried there, for I feared the nasty things'd crawl into my head and make a ruckus, just like the last time, but fortunately this was not allowed to happen. The divine flute-power of Corran came along accompanied by other instruments of (and for) great justice. Thereafter I can't remember much, other than that I was jamming in sort of an ecstasy with my feet above my head.
Conclusion: This song might just be the AMBASSADOR OF LOVE the prophecies of Frank the Fifth told of.
- Flaming Typhoon Raven on October 6, 2006
I've always liked this from way before. I listened to the OCR version to see if anything changed, especially after djp mentioned a drum solo which I didn't remember. Alas, nothing new (even if just one thing is ever changed in a song, and it is for the better, it makes me glad inside, no matter what the song). At the time it was doubley disappointing because I was listening on my really crappy headphones. At the time, it almost made me not like it altogether because I couldn't hear any bass at all. Luckily changing from 20 dollar open headphones to 100 dollar closed headphones makes 1000000x the difference in bass and everything else. Anyone who has the money and is a fan of music, wearing 20 dollar open headphones, should go shoot themselves in the face. Well not really, but it's pretty important.
As an aside, someone once said the left-panned synth sounds like a really cheap synth sax. Just sounds like a synth to me. Could be considered weak, but anyone who's played Cave Story (and liked it) should love it.
- Audity on October 5, 2006
The CSRemix Project had some good mixes, but a lot of them varied from the original way too much. This one keeps the tune and uses it throughout, making it a lot better, but I'm still waiting on a Gravity or 1st Core Remix, preferrably heavy metal. :D
- Osmose on October 5, 2006
Thanks again for everyone's support!
-Oh and by the way feel free to check more of my work at http://iplayflute1985.googlepages.com/
- Corran on October 5, 2006
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